The invention relates to an apparatus and a method of igniting a gas-discharge lamp. Patent Application P 38 37 422.6-33 discloses a method of igniting a gas-discharge lamp, in which a voltage surge in a resonant circuit assigned to the gas-discharge lamp is used for the purpose of lamp ignition. The frequency of the output voltage of a operating circuit means for operating the gas-discharge lamp is fixed after switching on at a starting value which generally does not correspond to the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit. The frequency is subsequently varied in the direction of the expected resonant frequency. The known adaptive ignition frequency determination requires a certain time until the ignition frequency or the resonant frequency is found.
The book "Identifikation dynamischer Systeme" ("Identification of Dynamic Systems"), Rolf Isermann, Vol. 1, Springer-Verlag 1988, pages 23-27 describes different identification methods of processes to be controlled which use the application of test signals to the process to be investigated. Pulse signals or stepfunction signals, for example, are used as test signals. The identification of the process to be controlled is carried out at the start of the technical control task, in order to be able to set controller parameters suitably.